Felting needle mounting means

ABSTRACT

A needle mounting member for mounting a barbed felting needle in a hole in a needle carrier of a felting machine, the hole being of greater cross-sectional dimensions than the needle to be mounted therein. The needle mounting member is formed from resilient metal strip shaped to afford firstly means for gripping the needle and secondly means for gripping the hole internally. This means for gripping the needle comprises a shaped seating including two axially spaced seating parts formed at opposite ends of a rigid part, and a resiliently displaceable tongue which is disposed axially between the seating parts. The outer gripping means comprises an outwardly directed seating afforded by said rigid part and a further tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative thereto and is adapted to press outwardly against the side wall of the hole. The two resiliently displaceable tongues are effectively isolated from one another by the common rigid part and thus act independently.

United States Patent Young [15] 3,654,678 1451 Apr. 11, 1972 [54] FELTING NEEDLE MOUNTING MEANS [72] Inventor: George Young, Alcester, England [73] Assignee: Needle Industries Limited, Birmingham,

England [22] Filed: May 26, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 40,594

3,388,443 6/1968 OByrne ..28/4R Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney-Friedman & Goodman [5 7] ABSTRACT A needle mounting member for mounting a barbed felting needle in a hole in a needle carrier of a felting machine, the hole being of greater cross-sectional dimensions than the needle to be mounted therein. The needle mounting member is formed from resilient metal strip shaped to afford firstly means for gripping the needle and secondly means for gripping the hole internally. This means for gripping the needle comprises a shaped seating including two axially spaced seating parts formed at opposite ends of a rigid part, and a resiliently displaceable tongue which is disposed axially between the seating parts. The outer gripping means comprises an outwardly directed seating afforded by said rigid part and a further tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative thereto and is adapted to press outwardly against the side wall of the hole. The two resiliently displaceable tongues are effectively isolated from one another by the common rigid part and thus act independently.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FELTING NEEDLE MOUNTING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION relates Field of the Invention This invention relates to the mounting of felting needles.

In the production of felt, or other like materials, barbed needles are reciprocated into and out of a mass of loose fibres to interlock such fibres mechanically as they pass between a pair of slightly convergent plates. The barbed needles are mounted on a carrier in alignment with respective holes in said plates. In a typical case the needles may project for approximately 3 inches from the carrier which is so disposed that in its raised position the needles are spaced above the upper, or stripper, plate while in its lowered position the needles extend through the aligned holes in the stripper plate and the lower, or bed plate.

The needles are usually spaced apart by a distance of between one-quarter inch and 1 inch while the shanks of the needles usually have a diameter of between 0.060 inch and 0.072 inch. The holes in the stripper and bed plates are usually approximately one-quarter inch in diameter.

Despite the comparatively large clearance which should be afforded by such holes, the needles not infrequently foul the edges of the holes and therefore quickly break in service. This arises in part as a result of the manner in which the needles are usually mounted on the carrier.

2. Description of the Prior Art One known method of mounting the needles on the carrier is to make the carrier as a solid or laminated wooden board drilled with a plurality of holes of a size adapted to receive the needle shank, the needles then simply being inserted into such holes. However, due to the small diameter of the drills that must be used to form such holes, such drills are comparatively flexible and this gives rise to a tendency for the drills to be deflected to follow the grain of the wood so that it is not always possible to ensure that the holes extend accurately perpendicularly through the wooden board. Due to the size of the holes in the stripper and bed plates, a fairly large lateral tolerance on the needle position is acceptable, but due to the length of the needle only a very small angular tolerance is permitted.

Furthermore, in use the holes through the wooden board tend to wear so that the needles become loose and therefore liable to angular displacement especially after the needles have been replaced a few times.

A further disadvantage of the use of a wooden board is that the dimensions of the board vary according to the operational conditions, ie. the wood shrinks or swells with changes in temperature and humidity. v

If the wooden board is simply replaced by a thinner, but substantially rigid metal plate, these difficulties are replaced by others due to the difficulties encountered in maintaining the necessary tolerances on hole diameter and needle shank diameter. Attempts to secure the needles in place by meansof adhesive or the like have also failed since this does not significantly improve the accuracy of the mounting and merely gives rise to further difficulties when it is necessary to replace the needles.

A further alternative system which has been used employs a metal carrier plate having a thickness of approximately onehalf inch, the needles being held in plastic bushes received in large diameter holes.

This arrangement has the advantage that the larger diameter holes can be drilled more accurately than those corresponding to the size of the needle shank. However, the plastic bushes reintroduce most of the disadvantages referred to previously. For example, such plastic bushes are liable to dimensional inaccuracies due at least partly to differential cooling after molding. In use the needle may rapidly become subject to increasing angular displacement, since plastics material is also subject to wear and bedding in. Further, if the plastic bush is not inserted into the hole in a direction accurately perpendicular to the plane of the carrier plane, there is a tendency for part of the outer surface of the bush to be sheared off as it is driven into the hole so that the bush itself is then inserted in an angularly displaced manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties.

According to the first aspect of the present invention we provide a needle mounting member for insertion in a hole of greater cross-sectional dimensions than the needle and formed in a needle carrier, such needle mounting member being formed of resilient metal strip and having a needle gripping means for gripping a needle received therein, and an outer gripping means for gripping the internal wall of said hole in the needle carrier.

Preferably the needle gripping means and the outer gripping means are so related that the latter grips the internal wall of the hole independently of the presence or absence of a needle in the needle gripping portion thereof and vice-versa.

Preferably the mounting member is formed from strip metal and the needle gripping means comprises a shaped seating to receive the shank of the needle and a tongue which is resilient displaceable relative to said seating and is adapted to press said needle into said seating.

The outer gripping means may comprise a rigid shaped seating adapted to engage a first part of the internal wall of the hole and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable to said shaped seating and is adapted to press outwardly against a further part of the internal wall of the hole generally opposite to said first part.

It will be understood that insertion of a needle into the needle gripping means causes some deflection of the latters tongue against the resilience of the material from which the mounting member is formed, but such deflection of this ton gue of the needle gripping means has no effect on the tongue of the outer gripping means. Conversely, insertion of the needle mounting member into the hole in the needle carrier causes some deformation or displacement of the tongue of the outer gripping means against the resilience of the material, but this has no effect on the resilient tongue of the needle gripping means.

In a preferred embodiment, the mounting member is symmetrical about a medial plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

According to a further aspect of the invention we provide, in or for a needle felting machine, a needle carrier comprising a plate provided with an array of holes extending perpendicularly therethrough and of cross-sectional dimensions greater than those of the needles to be carried, and a plurality of barbed needles mounted respectively in said holes by means of respective needle-mounting members formed in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

It is particularly advantageous for the needle gripping portion and/or the outer gripping portion of the mounting member to be so designed that such portions respectively engages the needle and/or the interior wall of the hole at three angularly spaced points. This may be achieved by slight deviations from a truly part-cylindrical shape for these portions where the shank of the needle and/or the hole in the carrier is of circular section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial section through a needle carrier showing a needle secured in a hole in a carrier by means of a mounting member in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the needle mounting member in its natural or free condition,

FIG. 3 is an underneath plan view corresponding to FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a transverse section on the line IVIV of FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a side view of a further embodiment of needle mounting member, and

FIG. 6 is an end view corresponding to FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The needle mounting members illustrated are adapted to grip the shank of a barbed needle 10 and to be received within a hole 11 extending perpendicularly through a carrier plate 12. The mounting members illustrated are formed from spring steel strip which is hardened and tempered after shaping.

The mounting member illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 is indicated generally at 13 and includes outer gripping means 14 which is divided into two distinct circumferential parts. One of these parts comprises a curved tongue 17 which subtends at the centre line 18 of the member of an angle of approximately 90. The tongue 17 is of substantially uniform curvature throughout its axial lenth. The outer part of the outer gripping means 14 comprises a relatively rigid part 19 which is connected to the tongue 17 by a connecting piece 20 of relatively shorter axial length. The rigid part 19 is formed as an outwardly presented curved seating which is adapted to engage the internal side wall of the hole 11 at a first position the part 19 having a curvature over most of its length substantially the same as that of the side wall of the hole 11.

The natural curvature of the tongue 17 of the outer gripping means 14 is slightly less than that of the side wall of the hole 11, i.e., it is of greater radius, so that it is deflected slightly inwardly when the member is inserted in the hole as shown in FIG. 1. In this way, the member is securely held within the hole 11 by virtue of the pressure exerted on the interior wall of the hole at a second position generally opposite to the first position due to the resilient displacement of the tongue 17.

The member 13 further includes a needle gripping means which comprises a tongue 15 and the end portions as hereinafter described, of the part 19 which is common to both the outer gripping means and the needle gripping means.

The tongue 15 is of axially reduced length as compared with the outer gripping means 14, and is integrally united with the part 19, at the side thereof remote from that at which the tongue 17 is connected thereto, through a connecting piece 24 which is axially shorter than the tongue 15.

The opposite end portions 21 and 22 of the part 19 are of reduced diameter as compared with the major portion thereof and are shaped as part-cylindrical seatings which are centered on the center line or longitudinal axis 18 and so dimensioned as to receive the shank of the needle 10.

The tongue 15 of the needle gripping means can be resiliently displaced relatively away from the inwardly presented part-cylindrical seatings 21 and 22 which form two axially spaced parts of a seating for the needle, the tongue 15 being disposed axially between the two parts of the seating. Thus, a needle 10 inserted into the member 13 deflects or deforms the tongue 15 which thereby resiliently presses the needle into the seating.

By making the radius of curvature of the seatings 21 and 22 slightly less than the radius of the shank of the needle 10, the latter will tend to contact each of the seatings at two circumferentially spaced position, while contacting the tongue 15 at a third point circumferentially spaced therefrom. This arrangement reduces the possibility of a two point contact with the needle which would allow relative freedom of angular movement in the direction transverse to the plane defined by the two points of contact.

In a similar manner, the radius of curvature of the tongue 17 of the outer gripping means is preferably made rather greater than that of the part 19, or vice-versa, while the other of these parts is made with a slightly smaller radius of curvature than that of the hole 11. In this manner, a three point contact tends to be established between the internal wall of the hole 11 and the outer gripping portion 14.

To facilitate the insertion of the needle 10 into the member 13, the needle seating 22 at one end of the member is preferably flared outwardly as shown at 23 to provide a lead-in portion, whilst the corresponding end portion 16 of the tongue 15 is also flared outwardly.

Preferably, as shown, the overall length of the member 13 is greater than the thickness of the carrier plate 12 so that the needle 10 is supported over a longer portion of its shank even though the mounting member itself is not backed-up throughout the whole of its length by the carrier plate 12.

Two possible modifications to the mounting member 13 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in ghosted lines. In the first modification indicated at A, the tongue 14 of the outer gripping means us extended at the end adjacent to the seating 22, and the extension includes a slot 25 adapted to receive the turned over end portion 10a of the shank of the needle and hold the needle against rotation about the axis 18. In the second modification indicated at B, the tongue 14 is also provided with an extension, but the extension is directed laterally so as to overlie the surface of the carrier plate 12 adjacent to the hole 11 and thereby positively limit the extent to which the mounting member can be inserted into the latter.

An alternative form of mounting member is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This is of generally similar design to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and similar parts are indicated by the same reference numerals with the addition of the prefix so that the numbers lie in the series upwards. The preceding description is to be deemed to apply to the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 as far as appropriate and the following description will be confined to the points of difference.

This embodiment is symmetrical about a medial plane perpendicular to the axis so that it can be inserted in the carrier more easily. Thus, both end portions 116 of the flange of the needle gripping means are deflected slightly outwardly, and both needle seating parts 121 and 122 are outwardly flared as indicated at 123 at their outermost ends to facilitate the insertion of the needle from either end.

The mounting member may be formed from strip spring steel by first stamping out a blank of the required outline, then subjecting the blank to a rolling operation to form the tongue 17 or 117 of the outer gripping means. The blank may then be subjected to a drawing operation to shape the common rigid part 19 or 119 and the seating parts 21, 22 or 121, 122. The shaped blank may then be folded to place the tongue 15 or 115 of the needle gripping means in opposition to the part 19 as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 or 6. The shaped and folded blank may then be rolled again so that the curved tongue 17 or 117 overlies the tongue 15 or 115. Finally the blank may require to be pressed to the desired final size between dies and then hardened and tempered.

The design of needle mounting member described above has the advantage that the mounting member as a whole is located within the hole 11 primarily by the part 19 or 119 the dimensions of which, by nature of its design, are stable throughout all manufacturing porcesses and service uses, and the tongue 15 or 115 and 17 or 117 are independently resiliently displaceable relative thereto to hold the needle within the mounting member and to hold the mounting member within the hole 11.

However, in an alternative construction it would be possible for the shank of the needle to be gripped by a part-cylindrical portion extending around substantially more than half the circumference of the shank and of such a diameter as to be expanded by the insertion of the needle. Nevertheless such expansion of the needle gripping portion would have no effect on the outer gripping portion due to the effective isolation of the latter. Thus, in the simplest possible form of needle mounting member in accordance with the invention the spring steel strip would simply be required to be formed into a spiral coil of which the innermost portion had a radius of curvature rather less than that of the needle to be received therein and the outermost portion had a radius of curvature rather greater than that of the bore in which the mounting member is to be received.

In further alternative arrangements within the scope of the present invention, the shank of the needle could be gripped between two shaped tongues respectively integrally connected at opposite longitudinal edges of a curved part similar to the part 19 and so dimensioned as to be slightly oversize relative to the hole, the shaped tongues being disposed inwardly of the outer part so as to grip a needle inserted therebetween. In a further alternative, the mounting member could be designed to press the needle against the internal wall of the hole in which the mounting member is assembled. In this case, the mounting member would have needle gripping means adapted to embrace the needle shank and press it against the internal wall of the hole, the remainder of the mounting member being of part-cylindrical form and so dimensioned as to be subject to radial compression, when inserted in the hole.

In other arrangements, the mounting member could be adapted for use with needle shanks and holes of other than circular section. In this case, the needle mounting member could be constructed substantially in the manner as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but with the parts l5, 17, 19, 21 and 22 formed to the appropriate shape.

lclaim:

l. A needle mounting member for mounting a barbed felting needle in a hole in a needle carrier of a felting machine, the hole being of greater cross-sectional dimensions than the needle to be mounted therein, the needle mounting member being formed from resilient metal strip shaped to afford:

a. needle gripping means for gripping the needle and comprising relatively displaceable parts co-operable with the needle to grip same between them, and

b. outer gripping means for gripping the needle carrier internally of said hole and comprising further parts which are displaceable relative to each other and independently of displacement of said parts of the needle gripping means relative to each other.

2. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said needle gripping means comprises a shaped seating adapted to receive a needle and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said seating and is adapted to press said needle to said seating.

3. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shaped seating comprises two axially spaced seating parts and said tongue of said needle gripping means is disposed axially between said seating parts.

4. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 3 wherein at least one of said seating parts and said tongue are flared outwardly away from each other at one end of the mounting member.

5. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said outer gripping means comprises a rigid shaped seating adapted to engage the hole internally at a first position and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said shaped seating and is adapted to press outwardly at a second position, internally of the hole, said second position being generally opposite to said first position.

6. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said needle gripping means and said outer gripping means are so related as to function properly independently of each other.

7. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 6 wherein a. said needle gripping means comprises a shaped seating adapted to receive the needle and the tongue which is resiliently displaceable to said seating and is adapted to press said needle into said seating,

b. said outer gripping means comprises a rigid shaped seating adapted to engage the hole internally at a first position and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said shaped seating and is adapted to press outwardly at a second position internally of the hole, said second position being generally opposite to said first position, and

c. said seating of said needle gripping means and said seating of said outer gripping means are afforded by a common rigid part of the member, the seating of the needle gripping means comprising two axially spaced inwardly presented seating parts and the seating of said outer grip in means being outwardly presented and disposed axra ly etween sard seating parts of sard needle gripping means.

8. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 7 wherein said tongue of said needle gripping means and said tongue of said outer gripping means are integrally connected to said common rigid part by respective connecting pieces which are axially shorter than said respective tongues and than said common rigid part.

9. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 8 wherein said mounting member is symmetrical about a medial plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.

10. In or for a needle felting machine, the combination of a. a needle carrier formed with an array of holes extending perpendicularly therethrough,

b. a plurality of barbed felting needles of smaller cross-sectional dimensions than said holes, and,

c. a plurality of needle mounting members each as claimed in claim 1, respectively mounted in said holes and having said needles respectively mounted therein. 

1. A needle mounting member for mounting a barbed felting needle in a hole in a needle carrier of a felting machine, the hole being of greater cross-sectional dimensions than the needle to be mounted therein, the needle mounting member being formed from resilient metal strip shaped to afford: a. needle gripping means for gripping the needle and comprising relatively displaceable parts co-operable with the needle to grip same between them, and b. outer gripping means for gripping the needle carrier internally of said hole and comprising further parts which are displaceable relative to each other and independently of displacement of said parts of the needle gripping means relative to each other.
 2. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said needle gripping means comprises a shaped seating adapted to receive a needle and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said seating and is adapted to press said needle to said seating.
 3. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shaped seating comprises two axially spaced seating parts and said tongue of said needle gripping means is disposed axially between said sEating parts.
 4. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 3 wherein at least one of said seating parts and said tongue are flared outwardly away from each other at one end of the mounting member.
 5. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said outer gripping means comprises a rigid shaped seating adapted to engage the hole internally at a first position and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said shaped seating and is adapted to press outwardly at a second position, internally of the hole, said second position being generally opposite to said first position.
 6. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said needle gripping means and said outer gripping means are so related as to function properly independently of each other.
 7. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 6 wherein a. said needle gripping means comprises a shaped seating adapted to receive the needle and the tongue which is resiliently displaceable to said seating and is adapted to press said needle into said seating, b. said outer gripping means comprises a rigid shaped seating adapted to engage the hole internally at a first position and a tongue which is resiliently displaceable relative to said shaped seating and is adapted to press outwardly at a second position internally of the hole, said second position being generally opposite to said first position, and c. said seating of said needle gripping means and said seating of said outer gripping means are afforded by a common rigid part of the member, the seating of the needle gripping means comprising two axially spaced inwardly presented seating parts and the seating of said outer gripping means being outwardly presented and disposed axially between said seating parts of said needle gripping means.
 8. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 7 wherein said tongue of said needle gripping means and said tongue of said outer gripping means are integrally connected to said common rigid part by respective connecting pieces which are axially shorter than said respective tongues and than said common rigid part.
 9. A needle mounting member as claimed in claim 8 wherein said mounting member is symmetrical about a medial plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.
 10. In or for a needle felting machine, the combination of a. a needle carrier formed with an array of holes extending perpendicularly therethrough, b. a plurality of barbed felting needles of smaller cross-sectional dimensions than said holes, and, c. a plurality of needle mounting members each as claimed in claim 1, respectively mounted in said holes and having said needles respectively mounted therein. 